Saturday, October 30, 2010

Waiting -- An Exciting Place to Be

I think I've written about waiting on this blog before, but it's been a long while.

Last August on a very hot and humid day, a friend and I stepped into a very crowded doctor's waiting room. Since most everyone who comes to this doctor has to have eye drops, they come with a designated driver which, of course, means two seats for every patient.

The doctor had to cancel appointments a couple weeks earlier because of a trip to Haiti to assist earthquake victims. Now, it appeared they'd doubled up on that day's appointments to catch up. A "catch-22" in the making.

So there we were, squeezed into this warm, stuffy room for three hours. At least part of my time was spent doing a field test and being seen by the doctor, but my friend finally had to step out for some air.

God has had me in His waiting room for a long while as I await publication in fiction. But unlike the stuffy doctor's office I experienced last summer, His waiting room is exciting because I have learned that God doesn't waste time even while we are waiting. 

This past year,  He revealed to me through books by Henry Blackaby and Francis Chan that the Spirit of the living God is within in me in a profound way, ready to lead me through all of life's challenges. That those nudges I feel at times are more than just intuition, but God Himself guiding me to make good choices. Of course I've believed, ever since coming to Christ, that the Holy Spirit is within me, but this took my concept of that to a whole new level.

Then, over the summer, I went on a C.J. Mahaney binge, reading his books on humility, worldliness, and living the cross-centered life. I also read another book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love. And, from that, I've dealt with pride in a huge way.

I begin every morning now, as Mahaney, suggests, acknowledging that God is my Creator and He is the one on whom I depend for the very air that I breathe and for everything in my life. He is the one who equipped me with the desire and talent to write, and in His due time I will reap a harvest. That without Jesus going to the cross for me, I wouldn't even be able to stand before God and pray to Him and know that He hears me and that He loves me unconditionally. That my life in His hands is the best thing in the whole wide world.

So I'm still waiting in that place God has for me at this moment. While here I continue to do what He has called me to do--write! And learn to write better. I attend conferences, listen to teaching on MP3's, participate in on-line courses, and read a lot of fiction. Reading is for enjoyment and entertaining, but for a writer like me, it's also learning by the example of authors who have gone before me.

I think I ended my last blog about God's waiting room saying I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I still feel the same way.

For more on C.J. Mahaney check out his website. To purchase books by C.J., you can get them here.
For more on Francis Chan, go to his website. To purchase books by him, you can get them here.

I have not been asked by either C.J. Mahaney or Francis Chan to promote their books or ministries.

7 comments:

Southern-fried Fiction said...

We serve an awesome God, don't we? I've got Crazy Love, but I'll have to check out CJ's book. Thanks, Pam, for sharing this.

Unknown said...

Pam,

This is a wonderful post. I haven't read either C.J. Mahaney or Francis Chan, but they're on my "to look for" list now and I'm sure I'll be reading them soon. Thanks for letting me see how my time in God's waiting room is not "down time," but rather a training ground.

Blessings,
Deb Harper

Pamela S. Meyers said...

Ane and Deb,
You cannot go wrong with Mahaney and Chan. Mahaney's books aren't large, but they are packed full of meaty truths to savor, digest and put into practice. The Cross Centered Life was provided to me by my church to read because I'm a Life Group leader (sm. group) and leaders are discussing this with their mentors. It's an awesome book.

Yvonne Anderson said...

Thanks for this post, Pam. It's always good to be reminded of the things we know, and I'll remember this next time I find myself fussing and fuming in the waiting room -- either God's or the doctor's.
- Yvonne
www.YsWords.com

Normandie Fischer said...

Excellent post, Pam. We've been spending time away from what we considered our "real life," trying to do what our hands find to do with all our might, yet sometimes wondering why and when. We know the Lord will reveal His purposes in His time, just as He will accomplish that which He has begun in us -- because His arm is NOT too short!

I stand with you, my sister, in the waiting room, trusting and breathing...

CDennis said...

Pam,
What a great viewpoint. I love how honest you are with your feelings and how you experience growth in God's wisdom through the reading of other's God-inspired words, applying it to the canvas of your life and then inspecting that canvas for areas that need more of God's emphasis...like patience, trusting, humility. I like Chan and Mahaney, and of course, you inspired me to buy their books this past year, so I too am learning to grow in ways that (in my sometimes prideful mind) I might have otherwise failed to see. It's not about us, it's about the Cross and living under the sovereignty of God in humility and striving to bear fruit in all we say and do and for how we wait on God for his leading. Cath

Pamela S. Meyers said...

Cath, it warms my heart to hear you say that God has used my experiences to help guide you toward the same things He has been teaching me.

Blessings, my dear friend.